Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Diamonds in the rough - Series notes, July 11, 2017


After Gaining Four Games in Five Days, Diamonds Are Ready for The Final Push for First Place with Six Straight Against Sonoma

Riding their longest winning streak of the year (5) to their best winning percentage of all time (.606), the Pittsburg Diamonds sit three games behind league leader Sonoma with six games to play before the first half Pacific Association champion is crowned. It is fortunate for Pittsburg that all six final games are against the first place Stompers, three at home and three in Sonoma.

The starters:
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Winter Chevrolet Stadium, Pittsburg:  It was Corey MacDonald (2-2) who got the latest winning streak going by starting against Sonoma July 5 and showing the way to victory. The righthander gave up just two earned runs in six innings of pitching but did not get a decision in Diamond’s 5-4 win.

Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., Winter Chevrolet Stadium, Pittsburg: He gave up five hits and five walks in his debut against the Stompers July 6, but most importantly, Travis Blakley allowed no runs in his five innings of work that night. The Diamonds would take their second straight victory over Sonoma 6-5. The former big leaguer will be making his second appearance on his effort to return to the major leagues.

Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Winter Chevrolet Stadium, Pittsburg: To Be Determined

Diamonds Have Stake in First Half Individual Titles at the Plate …. -- First baseman Vinny Guglietti has been at or near the top of the batting average (.419) and runs-batted-in (34) leaders all season. His closest competitor now in those two races is Diamonds’ centerfielder Wes Wallace (.347 and 30). The two are also among the leaders in homeruns. San Rafael’s Jake Tayler has 10. Wallace after two homeruns on Sunday is tied for second at 8 and Guglietti has 5 homeruns.

… and on the Mound – With credit for three wins, Tyler Stirewalt is tied for second in that category behind Sonoma’s Tyler Garkow who has four wins. Corey MacDonald is in striking distance to grab the ERA title. His 2.90 earned run average has him second behind the Stompers Juan Espinosa at 2.54. Stirewalt is fourth at 3.11 and Dennis Neal has the seventh lowest ERA at 3.58.

With Dramatic Walk-Off Homerun Is This a Team of Destiny? – The five-game winning streak the Diamonds have built has been filled with heart stopping moments. Three one-run victories followed by two games decided by just two runs have been nail biters. But one stands out. Friday night the Diamonds had fallen behind by two runs and things looked bleak when San Rafael got the second out in the bottom of the ninth. The tying runs were on base and J.J. Wagner worked the count to 3-1. To see what happened next go to DiamondsProBall.com and click on “Wagner Walk-Off Homerun.”

How to Catch the Next Dramatic Moments in This Title Chase – If you can’t make it out to Winter Chevrolet Stadium for the critical three-game series this week, there are a number of ways to follow the action. All Diamonds games – home and away -- are available via the internet and Mixlr.com. The three home games against Sonoma – Tuesday through Thursday -- will also be streamed live on BayAreaSports.TV. Wednesday’s game will be carried by KLSN-FM, Classic Hits 92.9. KLSN will also carry the final two games of the first half of the season on Saturday and Sunday from Sonoma.